Condenser and method of adjusting the same



Wl DUBILIER.

CONDENSER AND METHOD'OF ADJUSTING THE SAME.

APPLICATION FILED AUG-M1918.

1,334, 140, Patented Mar. 16, 1920.

3 6 g ///fl Z-ZZQL avlveufoz $1 aflo'maua UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM DUBILIER, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

CONDENSER AND METHOD OF ADJUSTING THE SAME.

Application filed August 1,

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM DUBILIER, of New York city, in the county ofNew York and in the State of New York, have invented a certain new anduseful Improvement in Condensers and Methods of Adjusting the Same, anddo hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exactdescription thereof.

In the manufacture of electrical condenseis, it has not been foundfeasible to perform all the operations with such exact uniformity as toinsure that every condenser of a class will have the same capacity. Thecapacity usually varies to such an extent that it is necessary to adjustit in some Way to bring the condenser within allowed variations, orwithin the limits of error permitted in various uses, such as inwireless sending apparatus.

' The invention has for an object to bring about the adjustment ofcapacity in a simple and convenient manner, and without requiringtearing apart, or other damage to the'elements of the condenser.

Further objects and advantages of the invention will be in part obviousand in part specifically pointed out in the description hereinaftercontained, in which is disclosed one embodiment of the invention, which,however, is to be considered merely as illustrative of itsprinciple.

In the drawings:

The single figureshows a plurality of condenser sections built up toform a condenser made in accordance with the invention.

Heretofore condensers made up of a large number of conducting plates andinsulating sheets bound together in. some suitable man ner, have beentested after being Wholly completed, and the capacity adjusted bytearing ofi', or adding, the required number of insulating sheets andconducting plates, to bring the capacity within the necessary limits.After adjusting the capacity in this way, there is a certain amount ofpatch work on each condenser, which is obviously undesirable, and it isnecessary to change the 1 terminal connections of the conducting platesin order to accommodate a greater or smaller number thereof, as may berequired.

'In some instances condensers made up of a.

plurality of condenser. sections have been employed, each of suchsections consisting of a number of conducting plates-and 'in-" sulatingsheets suitably bound together, and

desired capacity (with prescribed limits of Specification of LettersPatent. Patented Mar. 16, 1920- 1918. Serial No. 247,742.

the terminals of the sections connected in series or in parallel tomakeup the complete condenser. The capacity of condensers of this lattertype has been brought within desired limits by tearing oil", or buildingon the necessary number of conducting plates and insulating sheets tothe last section, which practice is open to the same objections as abovementioned, and also to the further disadvantage that the removal ofconducting plates from the last or end section may reduce the area orefi'ective surface of the latter to such an extent as to cause abreakdown in that section.

In condensers where a high potential is .to be withstood, such as usedin a wireless sending apparatus, it is desirable to distribute thepotential over a large number of condenser sections, in order that nosingle sec tion may be subjected to an undue strain. The drawing shows acondenser of that type in which the disadvantages heretofore encounteredin adjusting the capacity, are avoided, but it will be understood thatthe principle of the invention is applicable to, condensers of othertypes. In the single figure is shown a plurality of condenser sections1, 2, 3, etc., which are joined in series by connections 4, 5, etc. Bythe term sec tion is meant a unit which has been built up of a pluralityof conducting plates 6 and 7 of opposite polarity, and separated byinsulating sheets 8, all of the above elements being bound together, forinstance by pressure and an adhesive insulating compound, so as to forman integral unit which can be handled without disturbing the individualelements. In making up a con enser of any error), a plurality of suchsections are built up, and the individual capacity of each section ismade of such value that, when approximately the number of sectionsnecessary to provide a complete condenser of approximately the desiredcapaclty, are connected, the addition or withdrawal of a section fromthe complete condenser will produce a chan e in the capacity of thecondenser less than the permissible error. ;In

other words, when about the proper number of sections have beenconnected, the caparntyof the complete condenseris tested, and one ormore sections added on or removed, as may be necessary. 1

Since the capacity of the sections has. been so chosen; that,whentheapproximate desired. capacity has been reached, the addition orremoval of a section will produce a change in capacity less than thepermissible variation from standard, it is always possible to bring thecapacity of the condenser to a value within the prescribed limits, inthe above manner.

The change in capacity is made merely by connecting or removing asection, the same operation which is gone through in assembling thecondenser, so that no patch work l--i's involved, but the condenserisalways made up of standard sections. It is not necessary to disturbthe-individual con ducting plates or insulating sheets in any way, norto tamper with terminals of the conducting plates; the only connectionsthat need be changed are the ones 4, 5, etc, between adjacent sections,which change may be efiected without any damage to the condenser. Thusthe condenser will always be made up of a number of standard sections,and the effective area of any of which need not be changed, and thecharge wil be uniformly distributed between all such sections,thusavoiding danger of a breakdown, which might occur if the capacitywere otherwise adjusted.

While, there is disclosed a specific form of the invention it will'beobvious that many changes may be made without departing from theprinciple of the invention, as de-' fined in the following claims.

I claim 1. The method of making a condenser having a desired capacityvalue within prescribed limits of error, which consists in providing-aplurality ofcondenser sections each having a plurality of condenserelements, and each having an individual capacity of such value that whenapproximately the number of sections necessary to provide a condenser ofapproximately the desired capacity are connected, the addition orwithdrawal of a section will produce a change in the capacity of thecondenser less than the permissible error, and connecting in series therequisite number of such sections.

2. An electrical condenser comprising a plurality of separable condensersections each made up of a plurality of condenser elements, and'eachhaving an individual capacity of such value that when approximately thenumber of sections necessary to.

provide a condenser of the desired capacity are connected, the additionor withdrawal of a section will produce a change in tlfe capacity of thecondenser less than permissible error, and detachable connectionsjoining said sections in series.

3. An electrical condenser comprising a plurality of condenser sections,each made up of a plurality of condenser elements, such a number of suchsections being employed that the addition or removal of a sectionproduces a change in the capacity of the condenser less than permissibleerror, and

' detachable connections joining said sections in series. a

In testimony that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto set my hand.

WILLIAM DUBILI-ER.

